Two weeks ago, I attended a powerful and motivating summit hosted by Florida International University (FIU) Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work on empowering women to take control of their sexual health through knowledge of biomedical HIV prevention methods, connecting to community resources, and mobilizing key community stakeholders and providers.
What was most unique about this summit was the rawness of the various conversations. These conversations included voices of state congresswoman Frederica Wilson and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, community women and activists, a panel of diverse physicians and nurse practitioners, researchers, and LGBT and minority women working across different sectors in the HIV prevention field. When it comes to empowering women surrounding their sexual health, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is viewed as the driving vehicle. The problem is that there is a lack of awareness among women particularly LGBT and minority women, and providers about PrEP and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). During the engaging providers panel comprised of various physicians working in South Florida, a Haitian physician expressed that before the conference he decided to call several of his provider friends that practice within the local Haitian community and asked them if they have heard of PrEP. How many do you think said, “Of course, I know about PrEP”? The answer is…0. Not one single doctor whom was asked said they have heard of PrEP. We have a lot left to do. The work has not yet been done!
Miami’s HIV Epidemic
So maybe you are wondering…well why host this conference? The county of Miami-Dade continues to lead the nation in new HIV infections. Not too far away is the neighboring county of Broward which continues to compete with Miami when it comes to high prevalence rates as well.
Due to the rising rates of HIV in Miami-Dade County, city officials have responded to the epidemic with the development of a “Getting to Zero” task force comprised of city commissioners and individuals representing various public health agencies throughout Miami-Dade County as well as the state of Florida. The task force devised a multi-pronged action plan with priority goals for the next two years. The plans include to (1) reduce the rates of reported AIDS cases, (2) reduce the percentage of newly diagnosed HIV cases among residents aged 13-19 (3) increase the percentage of newly identified HIV-infected persons who are linked to care within 90 days of diagnosis and are receiving appropriate preventive care and treatment services in Miami-Dade County and (4) reduce the number of newly reported HIV cases in Miami-Dade County (http://www.miamidade.gov/releases/2016-09-29-mayor-getting-to-zero.asp).
Prep around the globe
PrEP has served as a vehicle for prevention and is being used worldwide. Countries such as the United States has large scale PrEP programs while others are still in the stages of development and some have not implemented as of yet. There has been many PrEP initiatives enacted. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is currently supporting 5 Microbicide Product Introduction Initiative (MPii) projects in Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Uganda from 2015-2020 focused on gender-based violence, drug resistance, creating demand, introducing new products, and models for delivering services. Another program is the DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe) initiative, a collaborative effort between US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Girl Effect, Johnson & Johnson, Gilead Sciences and ViiV Healthcare. DREAMS aims to reduce the incidence of HIV by 40% among adolescent girls and young women by 2020 in the highest HIV burden countries including Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Of the 10 countries, 5 have included PrEP for adolescent girls and young women in their strategic plans to address HIV. Recent data from PEPFAR shows significant declines in new HIV diagnoses among adolescent girls and young women. In the 10 African countries implementing PEPFAR’s DREAMS partnership, the majority of the highest HIV-burden communities or districts achieved greater than a 25 percent–40
percent decline in new HIV diagnoses among young women (https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/global-health/hiv-and-aids/technical-areas/dreams). In other areas of the globe such as Latin America and the Caribbean, a combination of biomedical, structural, and behavioral interventions is greatly needed in order to reach target objectives and goals and ultimately increase HIV prevention efforts. I am excited to see the future of PrEP.
Women’s Perspectives
During the women’s perspectives breakout sessions, workshops were broken down into specific focus groups including African American, Latina and Haitian. Amongst the African American women breakout session, some key topics that were addressed included stigma, specifically communication between the medical provider and client such as clear language on how to ask questions during the appointment while also considering time constraints, policy, and the need for funding toward effective behavioral interventions for HIV negative black women in the community.
Sistas Organizing to Survive (SOS) is a grassroots mobilization of black women in the fight against HIV and AIDS. In Florida, one in 68 non-Hispanic black women are known to be living with HIV/AIDS and has been the leading cause of death among black women aged 25-44 years within the state. (http://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/aids/administration/minority-initiatives.html)
Call to Action
Miami is the #1 city in the United States with new HIV infections. This is a huge public health issue. We have a call to action to advocate for ourselves and others when it comes to ending the epidemic. We have made significant strides, but the work has not yet been done. Sexual health including HIV prevention should be something that we freely discuss with our family, colleagues, peers, physicians, and anyone that we come in contact with that is willing to listen. It is these conversations that we can decrease stigma surrounding HIV. Women across the counties of Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach have answered the call to action by organizing and advocating for all women. We have accepted the call to action together that we can get Miami to Zero!
“A future where new HIV infections are rare, and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or socio-economic circumstance will have unfettered access to high quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination.”
–Quote from the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Updated to 2020: Strategy Vision
For additional information, please visit http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/prep/en/ http://amp4health.org/ and http://getting2zeromiami.com/